Thursday, July 31, 2014

Hero, Savior, Tyrant, Villain

W.T. Sherman, 1865, National Archives, Public Domain, full link below

Greetings All:

I am a history guy, especially military history. I have also become a big
fan of biographies. I (only half-jokingly) tell people I listen to audio books
(almost said books on tape, how's that for dating me?) because, "When you
run as slow as me, you don't need music."

So when my monthly Audible.com credit showed up last month, I pounced on
Robert O'Connell's book, Fierce Patriot.
It is the story of the man pictured above, William Tecumseh Sherman, one each.
I suspect most of you have at least a vague idea of who this man was and his
role in the Civil War.

I've got some links to his bio below but in a nutshell, here it is.

Born to a respectable, albeit family of modest means, a foster family raised
him due to his father's untimely death and they’re being ten other Sherman
children. He attended West Point and left the Army to pursue commercial
interests. He was not successful in these endeavors, at least from a
"balance sheet" standpoint. When the Civil War erupted his family utilized
their political connections to get him back in the Army.

It did not begin well. One of his first major campaigns ended with him
getting (more or less) getting relieved. The rumor was he suffered a mental
breakdown. He was undoubtedly suffering from exhaustion and quite likely
horrific depression.

Still, he was given a second chance. He made the most of it.

At the battle of Shiloh, he found himself. Despite the horrific carnage
around him, he rallied his troops. What could have been a disaster for the
North was somewhat of a victory. To Sherman should go a lion's share of the
credit for this event.From there Sherman's star rose, as did his success. He was now firmly joined
at the hip to General U.S. Grant as his star subordinate. Then he took his
"show on the road," the march to the sea in Georgia, then up through
the Carolinas in the dying days of the Civil War. In the North, he was hailed
as a hero, a savior even.

Down south, the feeling was far from mutual.I have no doubt that the name Sherman still can still call to mind the
images of an invader, an oppressor, a destroyer. He is credited with waging war
on a scale new to modern times. He wanted to not only defeat the Confederate
forces on the field of battle but he was determined to break the soul and spirit
of the Confederacy by attacking both its ability to make war and the images of
its insurrection.

I suppose if I was a Southerner and watched my state capitol go up in smoke,
I'd likely not think well of him either. I might even call him a tyrant.

I think it is important to note that from all accounts, Sherman did not
bathe in the putrid bath of war. He did not have the blood lust of others. I'll
let him speak in his own defense:

"I confess, without shame, I am tired and sick of
war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot
nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for
vengeance, for desolation. War is hell."

After the Civil War, Sherman was not finished with the
Army, or our history. He took over the task of overseeing the construction of
the intercontinental railroad. Here he found success, wild success. It was
built and our nation was never the same. The country was now linked from ocean
to ocean not by plodding wagons but speeding trains. America's economic might
and global status was secured.

And the culture of the Native Americans was doomed. In
building the railroad, Sherman had neither pause nor pity for those who lived
on the land. They were simply in the way. He wrote Grant after what became
known as the 1866 Fetterman Massacre, "...we must act with vindictive
earnestness against the Sioux, even to their extermination, men, women and
children."

In addition to his attitude towards the Native Americans,
the buffalo were driven to practical extinction. In Sherman's mind, they were
another impediment, an obstacle to be cleared in another "march" to a
goal.

One could look at these two bitter fruits of Sherman's
labor and indict him both a villain and tyrant, or worse. Then again, as a
child of a modern America, I've reaped the benefits of living in a nation that
became the economic envy of the world. Sherman's railroad made that, in large
part, possible. To damn him now from my comfortable perch of perspective would
make me a hypocrite, no?

So here is what I propose: Let's use the story of Sherman
to recall both the good and bad of the man. His accomplishments are impressive
and his means, at least some of them are not. In fact, they should call for
what they were- wrong, terribly, terribly wrong. But that's not enough. We need
to pledge to learn our history...all of it. By doing so we can endeavor to
emulate the aspects of our history that are good and avoid those that are bad.
Only by zipping up our coats and standing in the cold light of truth will we
create a history for our kids and grand kids that is a whole lot more
"hero" and a whole less "villain."

Be well my friends,Jeno

Author's Note: This post originally appeared under my Linkedin Profile Post. I am re-publishing it here as some of you are not on Linkedin.